Today we know the heavens are not fixed, but in a state of ongoing motion. Physicists today talk of an infinite, gradient web of vectors, matter under the influence of four or five distinct tendencies, at the entire range of scales. As evidence, our age-old quest to measure and predict the precise movement of our planet, to know the length of a day, is continually confounded by variations in orbit, rotation, precession, nutation, and combinations of smaller, fuzzier movements.
The universe is, by definition, constant, pervasive action. All things in motion at all times, to paraphrase Aristotle. Every speck vibrates. Every galactic cloud is turbulent. You perceive the falling of a book, from table to floor, only as a motion relative to your own; because, remember, that you too, are in always in motion. A fixed point can only be the Eye of God. "Whole simultaneous" and "interminable" says Aquinas.
From the Catholic religion comes the notion of an alternative temporal reality, aeviternity, outside but integral to our plane of existence, lying between the fleet cosmos of human perception and the infinite dimensionlessness of eternity. This is the realm of angels, who neither suffer the passing of time as mortals, nor share in the omnipresence of gods. Aeviternity is distinct from other super-cosmological dwellings of the divine, from Heaven to Hell, Svarga to Naraka, the Happy Hunting Grounds or Mt. Olympus, in that it is identified specifically by its dimensional relationship to the universe of humankind. It is a scholastic solution for understanding what lies between us and the ultimate Divine Eternal, the proposal of which, incidentally, generates more puzzles. A mystery box packed with more mysteries, such is the way of the universe, and therein lies the charm of an Aeviternity, and therefore evaporates some body of conceptual doubt as to whether it contains some inherent analogical truth.
16.6.07
22.5.07
Early Experimental Literature
Two examples of Post-Modernism from very Pre-Modern times:
The Voynich Manuscript
Nobody has ever decyphered the glyphs that fill the pages of the undateable Voynich Manuscript, leading some scholars to conclude its hundreds of pages are just dense gibberish. It could be an encyclopedia from an alternate Earth, with fantastic botanical and astronomical studies and revelations. The colorful illustrations only make the enigma more complex, with impossible to pin-down imagery.
Look it up in the wikipedia.
See its pages at the Beinecke Library.
There are several published studies of the Voynich Manuscript in book form, also: the Kennedy-Churchill book being the most contemporary, and seemingly least biased towards particular theories.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
And, for another book far outside its--or any other-- time, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, or "Strife of Love in a Dream,"
please refer, again, to your wikipedia.
The pages can be viewed at MIT Press.
This one-of-a-kind proto-novel was written in an embellished, eccentric Latin, framed in Italian-style syntax, told from multiple, embedded frames of reference. The story follows a hero on his dream-walk tour of fantastic--sometimes erotic--architecture, cataloging ambitious remixes of Classic details, and gardens that describe vast poetic metaphors. It was published in 1499, only five decades after of the European invention of the printing press.
Translations of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (I learned to say it--so can you!) are published from time-to-time, and there are numerous studies available in book form.
The Voynich Manuscript
Nobody has ever decyphered the glyphs that fill the pages of the undateable Voynich Manuscript, leading some scholars to conclude its hundreds of pages are just dense gibberish. It could be an encyclopedia from an alternate Earth, with fantastic botanical and astronomical studies and revelations. The colorful illustrations only make the enigma more complex, with impossible to pin-down imagery.
Look it up in the wikipedia.
See its pages at the Beinecke Library.
There are several published studies of the Voynich Manuscript in book form, also: the Kennedy-Churchill book being the most contemporary, and seemingly least biased towards particular theories.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
And, for another book far outside its--or any other-- time, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, or "Strife of Love in a Dream,"
please refer, again, to your wikipedia.
The pages can be viewed at MIT Press.
This one-of-a-kind proto-novel was written in an embellished, eccentric Latin, framed in Italian-style syntax, told from multiple, embedded frames of reference. The story follows a hero on his dream-walk tour of fantastic--sometimes erotic--architecture, cataloging ambitious remixes of Classic details, and gardens that describe vast poetic metaphors. It was published in 1499, only five decades after of the European invention of the printing press.
Translations of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (I learned to say it--so can you!) are published from time-to-time, and there are numerous studies available in book form.
The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity, written by a mysterious band of philosophers in 10th Century Basra in what is now Iraq. It is generally considered the original encyclopedia.
"...to shun no science, scorn any book, or to cling fanatically to no single creed. For [their] own creed encompasses all the others and comprehends all the sciences generally. This creed is the consideration of all existing things, both sensible and intelligible, from beginning to end, whether hidden or overt, manifest or obscure . . . in so far as they all derive from a single principle, a single cause, a single world, and a single Soul."
- from the Ikhwan al-Safa, or Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity; Rasa'il IV
The Brethen divided the sciences into three categories, outlined here, with help from Professor De Callataÿ at the Institure of Ismaili Studies in London.
Propaedeutic Science: the sciences of education, which serve the quest of subsistence and for the goodness of the living in this world, including: writing and reading, language and grammar, calculation and operations, poetry and prose, auguries and auspices and the like, magic, talismans, alchemy, tricks and the like, professions, crafts, sale and purchase, trades, cultivation, breeding, biographies and histories.
Religious and Conventional Science: the sciences of the healing of souls and for the quest of the hereafter, including: science of revelation, science of interpretation, narratives, reports, jurisprudence, norms and laws, recollection, exhortations, asceticism and mysticism, interpretation of dreams.
Philosophical Sciences:
Mathematics: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music
Logic: poetics, rhetorics, topics, analytics, sophistics
Natural Sciences: science of corporal principles, science of the heaven and the world, science of coming-to-be and passing-away, science of atmospheric events, science of minerals, science of plants, science of animals
Metaphysics: knowledge of the Creator, science of spiritual beings, science of psychic beings, science of politics (with 5 subdivisions: prophetic, royal, public, domestic, private), science of the Return
"...to shun no science, scorn any book, or to cling fanatically to no single creed. For [their] own creed encompasses all the others and comprehends all the sciences generally. This creed is the consideration of all existing things, both sensible and intelligible, from beginning to end, whether hidden or overt, manifest or obscure . . . in so far as they all derive from a single principle, a single cause, a single world, and a single Soul."
- from the Ikhwan al-Safa, or Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity; Rasa'il IV
The Brethen divided the sciences into three categories, outlined here, with help from Professor De Callataÿ at the Institure of Ismaili Studies in London.
Propaedeutic Science: the sciences of education, which serve the quest of subsistence and for the goodness of the living in this world, including: writing and reading, language and grammar, calculation and operations, poetry and prose, auguries and auspices and the like, magic, talismans, alchemy, tricks and the like, professions, crafts, sale and purchase, trades, cultivation, breeding, biographies and histories.
Religious and Conventional Science: the sciences of the healing of souls and for the quest of the hereafter, including: science of revelation, science of interpretation, narratives, reports, jurisprudence, norms and laws, recollection, exhortations, asceticism and mysticism, interpretation of dreams.
Philosophical Sciences:
Mathematics: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music
Logic: poetics, rhetorics, topics, analytics, sophistics
Natural Sciences: science of corporal principles, science of the heaven and the world, science of coming-to-be and passing-away, science of atmospheric events, science of minerals, science of plants, science of animals
Metaphysics: knowledge of the Creator, science of spiritual beings, science of psychic beings, science of politics (with 5 subdivisions: prophetic, royal, public, domestic, private), science of the Return
20.5.07
confounding chaos
Let's keep the distinctions between complexity and chaos crystal clear.
Chaos is the path followed by a rubber ball thrown into a grove of trees.
You can't predict the result of any throw, though a throw is a simple act.
Complexity is the state of contemporary fashion
being the grand sum of everybody buying clothing.
Crystal is a highly ordered lattice of atoms or molecules,
And that it can be clear is far out.
Chaos is the path followed by a rubber ball thrown into a grove of trees.
You can't predict the result of any throw, though a throw is a simple act.
Complexity is the state of contemporary fashion
being the grand sum of everybody buying clothing.
Crystal is a highly ordered lattice of atoms or molecules,
And that it can be clear is far out.
22.4.07
Nobody said anything about the blogosphere
The geosphere includes all the lifeless things of the universe. The dust, rocks, fireballs, and icycles.
The biosphere refers to those things in the cosmos that are living. It is said that the geosphere gives rise to the biosphere.
The noosphere is the realm of the human mind. It suggests a topography of human reason and belief, complete with the graceful beaches and rocky coastlines in between.
The biosphere refers to those things in the cosmos that are living. It is said that the geosphere gives rise to the biosphere.
The noosphere is the realm of the human mind. It suggests a topography of human reason and belief, complete with the graceful beaches and rocky coastlines in between.
13.4.07
Six New Categories for Contemporary Art
Hoorah for Roberta Smith, Arts columnist for the NYTimes, for finally redefining and rearranging the boxes into which we divide this culture's post-postmodern, post-medium art! She did so in today's review of goings-on in Chelsea.
I paraphrase:
Messy : food and drink and maybe spray paint allowed
Clean : no food and drink allowed
Full : art comprised of lots of things
Fuller : work that overflows
Empty : it's (mostly) not things
Giant : when Oldenburg's scale is used
So, the next time I'm asked, "What kind of art do you do?," I'm tossing "multimedia installation" aside, and responding "Messy Full"! Brilliant! Thank you Roberta!
I paraphrase:
Messy : food and drink and maybe spray paint allowed
Clean : no food and drink allowed
Full : art comprised of lots of things
Fuller : work that overflows
Empty : it's (mostly) not things
Giant : when Oldenburg's scale is used
So, the next time I'm asked, "What kind of art do you do?," I'm tossing "multimedia installation" aside, and responding "Messy Full"! Brilliant! Thank you Roberta!
9.4.07
Thirteen Galleries
Add to these definitions of the word "gallery" the model name of our Frigidaire front-loading washing machine.
1 . spectators in a tennis match
2 . a long porch or veranda
3 . rooms for art exhibition
4 . covered corridor or hallway
5 . nearly horizontal passageway in a mine
6 . decorative upright molding on the edge of a table or tray
7 . narrow outdoor balcony
8 . passageway over the aisle of a church, opening onto the nave
9 . upper, sloped section of an auditorium or theater--the cheapest seats
10 . a collection or assortment
11 . a burrowing insect or animal's tunnel
12 . a balcony at the stern or quarters of early sailing ships
Frigidaire, incidentally ranks up there in the most unfortunate corporate names.
1 . spectators in a tennis match
2 . a long porch or veranda
3 . rooms for art exhibition
4 . covered corridor or hallway
5 . nearly horizontal passageway in a mine
6 . decorative upright molding on the edge of a table or tray
7 . narrow outdoor balcony
8 . passageway over the aisle of a church, opening onto the nave
9 . upper, sloped section of an auditorium or theater--the cheapest seats
10 . a collection or assortment
11 . a burrowing insect or animal's tunnel
12 . a balcony at the stern or quarters of early sailing ships
Frigidaire, incidentally ranks up there in the most unfortunate corporate names.
4.4.07
On the Rich and the Powerful
Both of these quotations are from today's New York Times Opinion pages.
"Not since the Roaring Twenties have the rich been so much richer than everyone else. In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, the top 1 percent of Americans — whose average income was $1.1 million a year — received 21.8 percent of the nation’s income, their largest share since 1929. Over all, the top 10 percent of Americans — those making more than about $100,000 a year — collected 48.5 percent, also a share last seen before the Great Depression."
...and, from a different column...
"Researchers led by the psychologist Dacher Keltner took groups of three ordinary volunteers and randomly put one of them in charge. Each trio had a half-hour to work through a boring social survey. Then a researcher came in and left a plateful of precisely five cookies. Care to guess which volunteer typically grabbed an extra cookie? The volunteer who had randomly been assigned the power role was also more likely to eat it with his mouth open, spew crumbs on partners and get cookie detritus on his face and on the table."
"Not since the Roaring Twenties have the rich been so much richer than everyone else. In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, the top 1 percent of Americans — whose average income was $1.1 million a year — received 21.8 percent of the nation’s income, their largest share since 1929. Over all, the top 10 percent of Americans — those making more than about $100,000 a year — collected 48.5 percent, also a share last seen before the Great Depression."
...and, from a different column...
"Researchers led by the psychologist Dacher Keltner took groups of three ordinary volunteers and randomly put one of them in charge. Each trio had a half-hour to work through a boring social survey. Then a researcher came in and left a plateful of precisely five cookies. Care to guess which volunteer typically grabbed an extra cookie? The volunteer who had randomly been assigned the power role was also more likely to eat it with his mouth open, spew crumbs on partners and get cookie detritus on his face and on the table."
2.4.07
Emet! & ting-yin
EMET is the Hebrew word for TRUTH.
The utterance activates the Golem.
.................................................................
ting-yin
in which the pulse of the bloodstream in the fingers of the guqin instrumentalist alters the timbre of the note
The utterance activates the Golem.
.................................................................
ting-yin
in which the pulse of the bloodstream in the fingers of the guqin instrumentalist alters the timbre of the note
Peirce's Cenopythagorean Categories
Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher, mathematician, scientist, author of such works as "How to Make Your Thoughts Clear," formulator of the Maxim of Pragmaticism, and a lifelong friend of William James, in 1867 presented a paper entitled "On a New List of Categories" to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, published the following year, in which he laid the groundwork for a Theory of Three Categories that pervades much of his work.
FIRSTNESS
The scheme is a trichotomous architectonic, organizing the essentials of the pragmatic philosophy to which Pierce is credited as founder. The paper follows readings of Kant, Aristotle, and Hegel, and it is notedly dense.
FIRSTNESS
Quality of feeling. Ideas, chance, possibility. Vagueness, ephemeral. Reference to a ground, a pure abstraction of a quality. Essentially monadic. The Quale.
SECONDNESS
SECONDNESS
Reaction. Resistance. Dyadic relation. Brute facts, actuality. Singularity, discreteness. Reference to a correlate by its relate.
THIRDNESS
THIRDNESS
Representation. Habits, laws, necessity. Generality, continuity. Reference to an interpretation. Essentially triadic: sign, object, content of interpretation.
6.3.07
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